U.S. patent application number 11/419755 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-11 for removable hard disc loading device.
Invention is credited to Peng-Hui Chou.
Application Number | 20070008695 11/419755 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37022332 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070008695 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chou; Peng-Hui |
January 11, 2007 |
REMOVABLE HARD DISC LOADING DEVICE
Abstract
A removable hard disk loading device includes a hard disc tray
including a first loading place for placing a hard disk of a first
size, and an accessory capable of being placed in the first
containing place, wherein the accessory includes a second loading
place for placing a hard disk of a second size.
Inventors: |
Chou; Peng-Hui; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NORTH AMERICA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 506
MERRIFIELD
VA
22116
US
|
Family ID: |
37022332 |
Appl. No.: |
11/419755 |
Filed: |
May 22, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
361/679.33 ;
G9B/23.077 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/187 20130101;
G11B 23/107 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
361/685 |
International
Class: |
G06F 1/16 20060101
G06F001/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 11, 2005 |
TW |
094211749 |
Claims
1. A removable hard disk loading device comprising: a hard disk
tray (HDD tray) comprising a first loading space for loading a
first hard disk of a first size; and an accessory, capable of being
placed in the first loading space, comprising a second loading
space for loading a second hard disk of a second size.
2. The removable hard disk loading device of claim 1, wherein the
accessory is a U-shaped structure.
3. The removable hard disk loading device of claim 1, wherein the
first hard disk of the first size is 3.5-inches hard disk.
4. The removable hard disk loading device of claim 1, wherein the
second hard disk of the second size is 2.5-inches.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a removable hard disk loading
device, and more particularly, to a removable hard disk loading
device capable of loading a 3.5-inch hard disk and utilizing an
accessory to load a 2.5-inch hard disk.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Computer systems have become an essential part of people's
life. Nowadays, almost all work is performed utilizing computers.
To support this there is a huge variety of storage media available
in the market. For example, soft disks or CD disks are firstly
utilized for storing data. The disadvantage of these disks is they
are limited in capacity and the number of times they can be
overwritten. Furthermore, because of the significantly large
population of video data or multimedia data, the amount of a file
data is larger than the basic capacity of a normal soft disk or a
CD disk. Hard disks are still the most widely utilized storage
medium due to their characteristics of large capacity and
re-writing ability.
[0005] There are two types of hard disks, 3.5-inch hard disks and
2.5-inch hard disks, available on the market. Generally speaking,
the 3.5-inch hard disk is installed in a large computer system
(such as a personal computer, or computer server), and the 2.5-inch
hard disk is installed in a computer system that is more strictly
limited in space (for example, a laptop). Regardless of which disk
is used, they are almost always installed inside the housing of the
computer system. In other words, it is not easy for the user to
load or unload the hard disk inside the housing. Furthermore,
because the loading/unloading operation is not easy, the users
rarely carry the hard disk as a removable storage medium. This may
result in the data exchange of the hard disk being reduced.
[0006] To solve this problem, a removable hard disk loading device
was developed. The most well known removable hard disk loading
device is an HDD tray. The hard disk is no longer placed inside the
housing through the above-mentioned complicated operations.
Instead, the hard disk can be connected to the computer system
(such as the motherboard) in a simple way (for example, the hard
disk is plugged into the computer). Therefore, the trouble of
connecting the hard disk can be avoided.
[0007] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of an HDD tray
100 according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the HDD tray
100 comprises a loading space 1 10 for placing the hard disk. That
is, the hard disk is loaded inside the loading space 110. In
addition, the HDD tray 100 further comprises a handle 1 20 enabling
users to easily pull out/install the whole HDD tray 100.
[0008] Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram of an HDD tray
100 installed inside a computer server 200. Generally speaking,
because the computer server 200 has to provide a lot of services
(such as the storage space on the internet), the computer server
200 needs many hard disks. As shown in FIG. 2, the computer server
200 can comprise a plurality of plugs for placing a plurality of
HDD trays 100. As mentioned previously, when the HDD tray 100 is
placed inside the computer server 200, only the handle 1 20 is
shown outside the computer server 200. Therefore, the user can pull
out the HDD tray 100 by utilizing the handle. On the other hand,
when the hard disk is placed in the HDD tray 100, the connecting
port and the handle 120 are respectively located on different sides
of the HDD tray 100. Therefore, the connecting port is placed
inside the computer server 200 such that the connecting port can be
connected to the computer server through a well-known IDE bus or
SATA bus.
[0009] As mentioned previously, both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch hard
disks are available on the market. Most HDD trays 100, however, are
manufactured according to a specific size of a hard disk. That is,
a 3.5-inch hard disk has its own corresponding 3.5-inch HDD tray,
and a 2.5-inch HDD tray hard disk has its own corresponding
2.5-inch HDD tray. They can only be utilized with the corresponding
size disk. From an economic point of view, if the user owns a
2.5-inch hard disk and a 3.5-inch HDD tray, it is not practical for
the user to buy a 3.5-inch hard disk or a 2.5-inch HDD tray as
well. Furthermore, many of the computer servers 200 only have
spaces corresponding to the 3.5-inch hard disk. That is, even if
the user has a 2.5-inch hard disk and a 2.5-inch HDD tray, they
cannot easily be utilized in the computer server 200. Furthermore,
if the 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HDD trays are simultaneously loaded in
the computer server 200, the appearance lacks consistence.
Therefore, considering the aesthetics, it is not a good choice to
simultaneously utilize the 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HDD trays.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is therefore one of the primary objectives of the claimed
invention to provide a removable hard disk loading device to solve
the above-mentioned problem.
[0011] According to an exemplary embodiment of the claimed
invention, a removable hard disk loading device is disclosed. The
removable hard disk loading device comprises: a hard disk drive
tray (HDD tray) comprising a first loading space for loading a
first hard disk of a first size; and an accessory, capable of being
placed in the first loading space, comprising a second loading
space for loading a second hard disk of a second size.
[0012] The embodiment of the present invention HDD tray comprises a
U-shaped accessory. Therefore, the embodiment of the present
invention can support hard disks of different sizes. This means the
user does not need to buy additional hard disks or HDD trays.
Furthermore, because the embodiment of the present invention HDD
tray can support hard disks of different sizes (for example, the
3.5-inch hard disk and 2.5-inch hard disk), the computer server
does not need to have spaces with different sizes. In other words,
the computer server only needs to support the present invention
3.5-inch HDD tray. Therefore, this ensures the consistency of the
appearance, and makes the computer server more aesthetically
pleasing.
[0013] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an HDD tray according to the prior
art.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an HDD tray installed inside a
computer server according to the prior art.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a removable hard disk loading device
according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a diagram of a removable
hard disk loading device 300 according to the embodiment of the
present invention. In this embodiment, the removable hard disk
loading device 300 comprises a 3.5-inch HDD tray 310. As mentioned
previously, the HDD tray 310 comprises a loading space 320 for
placing a 3.5-inch hard disk. Please note that a U-shaped accessory
330 is placed in the loading space 320 of the HDD tray 310, wherein
the U-shaped accessory 330 also comprises a loading space 340 for
placing a 2.5-inch hard disk. Similar to the above-mentioned HDD
tray 100, the HDD tray 310 can also comprise a handle 350 for the
user to easily pull out/install the whole removable hard disk
loading device 300.
[0018] The 2.5-inch hard disk can be placed in the loading space
340, and because the size of the U-shaped accessory 330 corresponds
to a 3.5-inch space, the U-shaped accessory 330 can be embedded
inside the HDD tray 310, which originally supported the 3.5-inch
hard disk. In addition, because the loading space 340 of the
U-shaped accessory 330 corresponds to 2.5-inch hard disk, the
2.5-inch hard disk can be placed inside the U-shaped accessory 330.
In other words, the 2.5-inch hard disk can be placed inside the HDD
tray 310 through utilizing the U-shaped accessory 330.
[0019] Please note that the U-shaped accessory 330 is a removable
accessory, and therefore if removed, the HDD tray 310 can load the
3.5-inch hard disk. However, when the U-shaped accessory 330 is
installed in the HDD tray 310, the HDD tray 310 can support
2.5-inch hard disks. That is, the removable hard disk loading
device 300 can support both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch hard disks.
[0020] The embodiment of the present invention HDD tray 310 has a
similar structure to the prior art HDD tray 100. For example, the
HDD tray 310 only increases a U-shaped accessory 330. Therefore,
the method and structure for installing the removable hard disk
loading device 300 are similar to the prior art HDD tray 100. In
other words, when the removable hard disk loading device 300 is
installed inside the computer server, only the handle 350 is shown
outside such that the user can utilize the handle 350 to pull out
the removable hard disk loading device 300. On the other hand, when
the hard disk is placed in the HDD tray 310 (or the U-shaped
accessory 330), the connecting port and the handle 350 are
respectively located on different sides of the HDD tray 310.
Therefore, the connecting port is placed inside the computer server
such that the connecting port can be connected to the computer
server through a well-known IDE bus or SATA bus. Those skilled in
the art will understand corresponding installation methods and the
related steps, and detailed illustration is therefore omitted.
[0021] Please note that the material of the present invention
U-shaped accessory 330 is not limited. In other words, the U-shaped
accessory 330 can be made of plastics, when cost is a factor, or
can be made of metal to utilize the heat radiation ability. These
embodiments also obey the spirit of the present invention.
[0022] Please note that in the above disclosure, the present
invention removable hard disk loading device 300 is utilized in a
computer server. In the actual implementation, however, the field
that the present invention is utilized in is not limited. In other
words, the removable hard disk loading device 300 can be utilized
in a variety of computer systems. This also obeys the spirit of the
present invention.
[0023] In contrast to the prior art, the HDD tray comprises a
U-shaped accessory. Therefore, the embodiment of the present
invention can support hard disks of different sizes, negating the
need for the user to buy additional hard disks or HDD trays.
Furthermore, because the HDD tray can support hard disks of
different sizes (for example, the 3.5-inch hard disk and 2.5-inch
hard disk), the computer server does not need to have spaces of
different sizes. In other words, the computer server only needs to
support the present invention 3.5-inch HDD tray. Therefore, this
ensures the consistency of the computer's appearance, and makes the
computer server more aesthetically pleasing.
[0024] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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